CISO is the bridge between security and C-Suite
Deploying security tools to identify threats and address vulnerabilities was a CISO ’ s bread and butter , but assessing the bigger picture was more of a foreign concept says Frank Kim at SANS Institute .
As the cyber threat landscape has evolved , so too has the role of the modern Chief Information Security Officer . Gone are the days of the siloed CISO who operated from an ivory tower without a seat at the boardroom table for major organisational decisions .
Today , as digital transformation expands and business demands intensify , the modern CISO role has shifted from purely tactical to fully transformational – the cyber quarterback of the organisation who aligns strategic planning , policy , and processes within a value-centric security architecture designed to mitigate cyber and business risk .
Protecting an organisation from cyber threats no longer falls on the CISO ’ s shoulders alone . It is a collective responsibility spanning across the entire organisation , starting at the top with corporate leadership and extending down to every level of the enterprise . Gartner forecasts indicate that by 2026 , more than 50 % of C-level executives will have performance requirements related to cyber risk within their employment contracts .
Expected new SEC regulations will also mandate publicly traded organisations to disclose their cybersecurity governance efforts , particularly the Board ’ s oversight of
Frank Kim , SANS Institute Fellow and Cloud Curriculum Lead cyber risk within its larger business strategy . Now more than ever , positioning CISOs to serve in the capacity of a transformational leader is critical to enterprise health .
Business priority
The transformational CISO is the bridge between cybersecurity and the C-Suite . With that said , they must be able to effectively articulate the link between cyber incidents and business disruption in a way that resonates with various stakeholders of the organisation . This requires a holistic understanding of cyber risk ’ s three fundamental tenets : threats , vulnerabilities , and impact .
Historically , CISOs focused primarily on the tactical aspects of cyber risk without consideration of the bigger picture . Deploying security tools to identify threats and address vulnerabilities was bread and butter , but assessing the bigger picture was more of a foreign concept . However , the proliferation of cyberattacks on a global scale has added a myriad of new variables to the equation .
From nation state adversaries driven by geopolitical tension to digital extortionists driven by organised crime , the cyber threat landscape is now malicious and highly sophisticated – and it is evolving as
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